Thursday, February 28, 2008

It's been a week now. I am so grateful to be receiving e-mail from the American family in Serbia. They have given us a true perspective of what it is like there. They are safe and ready to come home on Saturday if all goes as planned. We told the facilitator we would keep all our paperwork there and go when they are ready for us. It is such a small program that it looks like they have to bring one family at a time. Especially now that they are being extra cautious about our safety. So, we will wait and hope the center hurries!

Thursday, February 21, 2008

What a devastating day. Here is the latest in Serbia. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1715206,00.htmlA huge group of protesters met in Belgrade today (about half a million of them) and a group broke off and set the U.S. Embassy on fire!!!! Needless to say, this is not what we wanted to hear. This may completely change everything. Regardless of how the adoption program is working, it is not safe to travel there at this time. We don't know if they will close the adoptions for a while or not. Right now, our plan is to keep all our paperwork there and just wait it out. I feel so strongly that Max is our son. I am so heartbroken. I have been crying all day. I do not want to think about him staying in the orphanage another minute, let alone another 6 months or years or whatever! I can already tell I won't be sleeping much tonight. I am just so incredibly sad. I hope when we do finally get him, this will seem like the blink of an eye. Oh, how I love him and want him to come home.

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Thank you to all who thought and prayed for our situation lately. We heard from the American family in Serbia today. They said things seemed much calmer today. The US Embassy was not open but they felt safe enough to tour the city today which is wonderful. They spoke to the chief of the Ministry and the Minister, who assured them "that there will not be any problems with (the) adoption from them. They are not going to let the political situation between the U.S. and Serbia affect (the) adoption negatively." Hooray!!! Let's hope that continues to be the attitude there.

Monday, February 18, 2008

Well, it's only been a few hours since I last posted but political situations happen fast. I have been reading about Kosovo and all the protests and American hatred going on. Very scary. I am very, very worried about our adoption right now. For those of you who don't know, Kosovo declared independence from Serbia yesterday. Serbia is refusing to recognize it as it was not done according to International Law. The US on the other hand, has recognized Kosovo as a separate state now. (France, Britain, and a few others have too.) Because the US flag has been used in many protests, the US is becoming more and more hated there. In Belgrade, which is where the orphanage and also the US Embassy is, there have been many protests. Some even stoned the US Embassy last night. Our little Max was born in a town just outside of Kosovo and we must travel there to complete our paperwork. That is if we are even allowed to continue the adoption at this time. Please, please pray for us and that this situation will not affect the adoption program for very long, if at all. We do not want to risk going to an unsafe country nor do we want to wait a year to get Max. Please pray that God's will be done and that we will have peace in whatever the outcome is. Thank you.

There is a family in Serbia right now adopting siblings. I "met" the mom through the internet. She has been e-mailing everyday to update everyone on her journey. It has been very helpful to know what to expect. I think I will need to learn a little Serbian before we go. Yesterday, we got the best e-mail from her. She was able to see Max!!! Of course she said he is so cute. =-) She said he is well cared for. She asked the facilitator if we would be traveling soon. She was told that the lawyer, the Ministry officials (government), and the facilitator are all putting pressure on the social work center to HURRY UP. So, hopefully soon.

Kosovo declared their independence yesterday from Serbia. Serbia is NOT happy about it. I really hope that will not interfere with anything. The family who is there said it is all over the news but so far is not causing problems within Belgrade. Hopefully, no military action will be taken.

My mother-in-law is in town this week from MO. She is wonderful. We had most of my husband's family here on Saturday night to see her. My niece has a 3 month old baby that Kevin and I fought over. Good thing we are getting a little one soon because we are both ready! It was fun to take family pics. There are 13 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren on his side. On my side, there are 17 grandchildren and 2 on the way. That is crazy for me because I grew up with ONE cousin. Yup. One! I am excited for my kids to have so many cousins. Go to the bottom of the page to see the pictures.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

In trying to get my life organized, I was in the office one night while my children played in the playroom. I must admit, I wasn't paying much attention to what they were doing. My husband was out for the evening. Tia, my 6 year old, came into the office and said, "Uh-Oh." I turned to see she her hands covered in blue paint!! I replied, "Oh Wow. Let's see what happened." If I react in a big way, she will do it again tomorrow to see mommy go crazy again. So, I have learned to stay calm. NOT always easy. =-) She had climbed up on a toy, reached the poster paints and opened the blue one. I have to say I was a bit impressed as I didn't know she could twist the top off so easily. Anyhow, she had finger painted the cabinets, the shopping cart she used to stand on, and the table. It wouldn't have been too bad except she spilled a few good blobs on the carpet. It took me almost an hour to get it even close to out. I put her in the tub and started to clean up when I thought, " I really should take a picture of this." The funniest part is that Tyler, my 3 year old, never even saw it. He was reading a book in the corner of the room and never looked up. I know the mess would have had NO boundries, had he joined in. Isn't life fun!? Needless to say, the remaining poster paint went into a childproofed cabinet!

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Well, it's still going to be a while. I wrote the facilitator of the orphanage last Thursday to ask how things were going. She wrote today to say Max's center, where all the paperwork is done, is VERY slow. They only have one last thing to do but have not done it. She said he is already cleared for international adoption so there is no reason he should be there anymore. I couldn't agree more! =-) The mommy tiger in me wants to fly to Serbia and camp out in the center until the paperwork is complete! I guess I don't need to be checking my e-mail 5 times a day anymore. It is nice to know something though.

Trying not to think about it, is pretty much impossible. The other night I said to my husband, "I just thought of something." He said, "Let me guess, it's about adoption." I had to laugh, he was right. Please keep Max's center in your thoughts and prayers that they will understand the urgency of getting him home to a forever family. Thanks!

About Me

I have been married to my wonderful husband for 13 years. We have 4 children. All of our kids have Down syndrome. Three of our children were born into our family and the youngest is adopted. Our oldest son passed away when he was a year old and we miss him very much. We have a unique life and I love being a mom!! My family is my joy!